Humanity
by darkness173
Summary: Nero has been cursed and is changing, both physically and mentally. Dante is here to back him up, but what happens when having the older devil hunter around evokes unsettling feelings? SLASH - Dante x Nero. BETA'D.
1. Prologue

**_Hello everybody!_**

**_I started writing this fanfiction two years ago and it has turned out rather long. It was written in horrible English (because I'm not a native speaker), but now I'm rewriting it and my nice beta reader is helping me out, as well. I hope some of you can appreciate it since it has taken up a lot of my time to write it. The beginning may be a little strange and confusing, but things explain themselves after a while. I actually haven't finished it yet, but I will surely work on it if I see people are interested._**

**_My beta reader: Blood of Dusk_**

**_Disclaimer: I sadly don't own anything at all and write only for entertainment._**

**_Rated: M because of language, violence and sexual themes._**

**_Oh, and if you haven't realized it yet: it's SLASH! Don't like, don't read._**

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><p><strong><span>Humanity<span>**

[Dante x Nero]

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><p><strong>Prologue<strong>

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><p>"Hey kid, mind watching the way you swing that sword of yours? You might actually hurt somebody!"<p>

"… Shut the hell up, old man!"

Nero jumped up in the air and accumulated all his strength for a split-attack. Dante easily blocked it and hurled the younger devil hunter back, making him crash into a stony wall of their self-proclaimed training ground. The boy climbed to his feet panting; the long training fight he was having with Dante was starting to get the better of him. He felt weak and tired… and yet, he wouldn't admit it for anything in the world. He was so determined to kick the older man's ass that he even managed to ignore the sharp pain the deep injury in his human arm was causing.

"Look, kid – it's entertaining to battle with you and all, but don't you think we're overdoing it a little? We haven't had a break for almost two hours; I think this is enough for today." Dante said, while paring another assault from Nero's side. A sly smirk formed on his face.

"You'll never beat me anyway. It's pointless!"

"Shut the hell up, old man! I told you already; stop talking meaningless shit and _actually_ fight back!"

Nero ran as fast as he could, the point of his sword directed at Dante's throat. Everything happened really fast, even for Nero's trained eyes: the older man dodged, grabbed his human arm and brutally twisted it, disarming him in the process. At the same moment, he knocked him against a huge rock, holding him firmly up against it, raising his sword to his throat.

"Pizza and beer?" Dante asked. The two devil hunters looked into each other's eyes; Dante grinning smugly, Nero glaring. The latter was the first to avert his gaze.

"You're an asshole, Dante!"

"Yeah, don't worry; we'll take care of this, too."

Nero flinched and inaudibly gasped, as a sharp pain shot through his arm from where the older male was tightly squeezing the injured limb. As soon as the sharp blade was removed from the boy's throat, he punched the other devil hunter as hard as he could with his Devil Bringer. Dante, who was caught off-guard, failed to dodge and just stumbled backwards with a low groan, holding his gut. He had to smirk all the same when he heard the teen mumble "Damn, old, sadistic asshole…" while leaving the training grounds, Red Queen on his back.

_Oh, if only you knew how sadistic I REALLY can be._ Dante thought, before sheathing Rebellion, as well, and following him out of the demolished camp.

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><p>"GODDAMMIT, will you watch what you're doing? I'm starting to think that you really enjoy the pain of others!"<p>

"Poor, little, injured kiddo." Dante mocked him in a sing-song voice, finishing bandaging up Nero's arm tightly. _Too_ tightly. The younger devil hunter grimaced and was about to punch the other male again, but the door bell rang and saved his ass. Dante went to open the door and returned with two pizza boxes. He sat down at his desk, his feet pulled up to rest on the wooden surface in his usual reckless manner and then started to eat. Nero stood up from the couch, approached the little refrigerator in the corner of the room and helped himself to a can of beer. He opened it and took a generous gulp; the cold liquid instantaneously soothed his burning insides.

"Slow down – I don't wanna have to take care of your drunken ass afterwards." Dante jokingly commented, while chewing happily on his slice of pizza.

"Yeah, whatever. Like a can of beer would be enough to get me wasted. Whatever you say, old man. Whatever you say. Now give me the pizza."

"Come and get it if you want it that badly."

The older devil hunter smirked and eyed Nero provocatively. He loved to play with the boy. He took things so embarrassingly seriously. The teen walked up to the desk and nonchalantly picked up the untouched pizza box. He took a seat on the desk with his back turned to Dante and ate the pizza, as well. Dante glanced at his back, disappointed that his provocations had been ignored, but he didn't make any more smartass remarks.

After a short while he asked "Shouldn't you be heading off soon? Isn't your girl waiting for you to come home?"

"Not really..." Nero replied with a soft voice.

"Why, did you two have a lover's tiff or what?"

"Shut up, it's none of your business!"

Nero rubbed his nose and stood up with the intention to go away.

"Why not? We're friends, right? It should be alright to talk about these things."

Dante jumped to his feet, as well, and followed the younger devil hunter through the lobby, but the teen abruptly came to a halt.

"So we're even friends now?" Nero muttered sarcastically. "Nice."

"What's the matter, why are you acting so angry?"

"Dante… just shut up, will you?"

Dante said nothing, a scowl slowly crawling onto his face. His patience was beginning to wear thin. First the brat had come to his shop and had started to live and work with him, as if it was obvious he _could_. All the while he had avoided talking about serious things, like _why_ he was staying at his place and _why_ he didn't want to go back to Fortuna.

"Look, kid..." he snapped, grabbing the younger devil hunter by his injured arm and flinging him menacingly against the nearest wall."You don't show up here, stay here for a month, eat my food, take a part of the money I could easily earn by myself and then talk to me that way. Pull that fucking stick out of your ass and tell me what the hell your problem is!"

Nero softly gasped, both from the surprise at having Dante ranting at him and the pain in his upper arm. He eyed the man uncertainly with a slightly lowered head and tried to remove his hand from around the gash Rebellion had slit into his flesh.

"You're tearing it open again!"

"As if you'd really mind, damn brat! Now would you mind telling me why the fuck you've been acting like a PMSing girl?"

The younger devil hunter struggled to free himself from Dante's clutches, but managed only to indeed rip his wound open again. After a few seconds, he found his hoodie drenched in a red and warm substance he knew was his blood.

He clenched his Devil Bringer and hit the other male straight in the face. Dante, however, kept his stance and shoved his knee deep into Nero's stomach, causing him to double over and slide down the wall to the ground.

"You cooled off yet?" he asked, annoyed.

Nero crouched on the floor, trembling ever so lightly, and fixed his gaze on the rather dirty tiles. He watched a little puddle of blood grow in size under his left hand. Apparently, Dante noticed, too.

"Hey… What's wrong…? That scratch shouldn't be that much trouble for someone like you…" he softly said, kneeling down to his eye level and checking the freshly reopened wound.

Nero just snorted and brushed his hands off, stood up and headed straight for the room he had been staying in since he had come to live with the older man.

Dante inhaled deeply, trying to soothe his strained nerves and then followed him upstairs. He stood in front of a closed door and wondered if this was what it was like to have a pubescent child. He sure as hell was never going to have children. Never. He knew Nero wanted to be alone, but there was something about the teen's behavior and his injured arm which bothered him.

"Kid? I'm coming in now. You better just take it and be a good boy." the older devil hunter warned him, sighing. He opened the door and was embraced by darkness. His demonic eyes, however, adapted rapidly to the obscurity around him and he easily found his way to a bundle of trembling sheets, huddled up on a mattress in the corner of the room.

"You alright? Are you still bleeding a lot?"

Dante lowered himself and pulled at the sheets, revealing the other devil hunter's slightly curled up figure. Nero turned away, avoiding his gaze. The older male ignored his unfriendly mannerism and just rolled the blood-soaked sleeve of his hoodie up. He peeled the now useless bandages off his arm and scrutinized the still bleeding red and swollen gash.

"This sure is some fucked up shit here. Why isn't it healing yet? It's not normal for a half demon to need that much time to heal a scratch like this one!" he exclaimed, slightly upset.

"It's normal for a human, though." Nero mumbled with a soft voice.

"Huh?"

The teen started trembling even harder and rubbed his nose with this healthy arm.

"I think I might be losing my demonic powers..."

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><p><strong><em>Thanks for reading! <em>**

**_I know - this is just the beginning and it's difficult to already express oneself about it. Feedback is always appreciated though! =)_**


	2. Chapter 1

**_Hello~ ^^_**

**_Thanks to everybody, who read, subscribed, faved and reviewed! I'm glad you're interested. ^^ This chapter is still kind of an introduction... the real thing starts with chapter 2._**

_**Again, thanks to my beta reader Blood of Dusk for her support!**_

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><p><strong>Chapter 1<strong>

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><p>Nero moaned softly in pain. If that was how humans had to deal with their injuries, they deserved respect.<p>

Dante was stitching up the gash in his upper arm, as it just wouldn't stop bleeding.

"Fucking shit! Do you mind being a little more careful? It hurts like hell, you can't even imagine!"

Dante smirked and tore off the thread he had used to suture the younger one's injury. Now he understood why Nero was acting like a total pussy: he was scared. Scared shitless, that is.

"Poor, little, injured _human_ kiddo." he said in a sing-song voice, then frowned. He felt a sense of déjà vu and grinned lightly. "Don't worry about that, I'm sure it's just a phase, you'll be alright again. Demonic powers included. You shouldn't have acted like an ass though. You should have just told me about it and we'd have already found a solution by now. Ha!"

Nero rolled his eyes and rubbed his nose with the back of his hand.

"Whatever…" he mumbled angrily.

"What? You still got a problem? Look, I'm not a psychiatrist; it'd be nice if you talked to me once in a while instead of just-"

"I'm sorry, okay? I'm really not comfortable with this situation! Kyrie … broke up with me. … And now this. Will you just for once do me the favor of shutting up and leaving me alone?"

There was an unpleasant moment of silence which was interrupted by Nero hissing in pain, his soft features contorting as he clutched his Devil bringer tightly. Dante, alarmed, shifted a little closer to place a comforting hand on the younger devil hunter's shoulder and squeezed it just enough to remind him that he was there, right by his side. The boy started to shake uncontrollably.

Suddenly, there was a soft cracking noise and a large red scale detached itself from Nero's arm, leaving behind a bleeding hole in the skin of his demonic arm.

"Kid…" Dante watched in shock. He was speechless. This was becoming rather disturbing; how was it possible for a half demon to lose their demonic power, if that really was the reason Nero was going through this complete hell? He was jolted out of his thoughts by a scream of agony and the teen beside him squirming and writhing. More pieces of scaly skin were falling off Nero's arm and leaving him bleeding badly and panting in pain.

"No… my arm. … What's happening to my arm?" he whispered with a weak and breathless voice and then clenched his teeth to keep himself from screaming another time.

Dante was overwhelmed with what was happening right then. He had never heard about something like that before. He was clueless on how to act and therefore just did the first thing that came to his mind. He wrapped an arm around Nero's convulsing shoulders and pulled him close against himself, keeping him tightly against his chest. The embrace wouldn't make the horrible scenario in front of him stop or soothe the pain. But maybe it would help the kid morally.

The teen just fisted his red jacket and didn't seem to pay direct attention to him. The older man knew that Nero would never allow himself to show any kind of weakness in normal cases, but this was probably considered an exception. Because fucking hell – there wasn't anything remotely normal about what was happening!

After a while, the fit stopped and Nero calmed down. He stayed motionless for a long time, just leaning against the other male's broad upper body and trying to catch his breath. He freed himself from Dante's strong arms and scratched his nose, strictly avoiding his gaze. He looked down at his arm and cringed in shock. The biggest part of it was torn open and bleeding heavily.

"You alright now?" the older man asked cautiously.

"Do I look like I'm alright? My fucking arm is falling apart!" He didn't sound as cocky as he usually did though. "Why is this happening?" he whispered, not really meaning to say it out loud. Dante didn't reply. He didn't know the answer, either, after all. He hadn't taken the teen too seriously when he had said that he might be losing his demonic powers; even demons had their crisis sometimes, which could have lead to some dysfunctions in his healing process. But yeah, what he had just seen clearly changed his mind.

"When did this sick shit start?"

Nero sighed. "I don't know. It started a few weeks ago when I wasn't able to trigger anymore, I guess… My wounds started hurting more and healing slower."

"No, when was the first time you noticed a change – you have to be precise!"

Nero fell silent. He lowered his gaze and answered softly. "It was after Kyrie broke up with me. I was careless during a mission and a demon injured me. I couldn't trigger. The wound hurt like hell and didn't look like it was gonna heal for several days."

Dante thought about what he had just been told and was tempted to ask the younger devil hunter what had happened between him and his now apparently ex-girlfriend, but he knew this wasn't the right moment to do so. He also couldn't recall ever having heard of a demon or a half demon losing its demonic powers, but he supposed it was possible. If humans could turn into demons, demons could probably turn into humans, as well, right? But how? What was the reason for a phenomenon as this? He didn't have time to think about it, however, he had to take care of the teen now; he was too fragile to be left alone.

_Who'd have said I'd ever describe Nero as fragile someday! Haha!_

"Hey, we'll find something to stop this, alright? Don't worry about it. I'll take care of you, kid."

Nero huffed and pulled the sheet over himself again. Dante couldn't help but smile when he saw the teen rubbing his nose. He stood up and went downstairs to fetch some more medical supplies and then returned into the boy's room to have a look at his Devil Bringer.

"You know, I can do it myself. It's not like you're a caring nurse anyway. It seems to me that you're hurting me on purpose."

Dante smirked darkly and dropped a great amount of ethylic alcohol into the deep gashes, chuckling lightly as Nero winced and cried out in pain.

"Yeah, well, maybe I really am a _little_ sadistic after all."

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><p>He had always hated his Devil Bringer. Wished for it to be a normal arm, wished for himself to be a normal person. And now that he was becoming human, he wished he could turn back to what he used to be before. Nero scrutinized his still healing right arm. It was soft and pale like the rest of his body.<p>

Two weeks had passed since the incident with his Devil Bringer had taken place and he was starting to feel slightly better. The gash on his left arm had closed up and didn't hurt anymore. Dante had insisted that he couldn't come along when they got calls for new missions in the Devil May Cry office. He had also insisted on him staying at home and adapting himself to the new situation. But Nero was dying of boredom; he hated to stay inside and wait for the older man to come home with a satisfied smirk on his face. Today was no different. The teen was lying on the worn out couch in the office's lobby, feeling like a withered vegetable, when Dante stepped into the shop.

He lazily swung Rebellion in a circle for two or three times, then set it aside against a wall. Same for Ebony and Ivory, dropping them onto the desk. He let himself fall into his favorite chair, bringing his feet up to stay on its surface.

Nero huffed in annoyance and stood up. He walked up to the other devil hunter and stopped in front of his desk, arms crossed.

"I'm not staying in this shit hole anymore! You better bring me along tomorrow. And now let's train or something – I'm bored out of my mind!"

Dante yawned and stretched a little, trying to look as uninterested as possible. He didn't feel like battling, but his gaze fell onto Nero's crossed arms. He noticed that his ex-Devil Bringer had almost healed up completely; the skin covering it had turned into a soft-looking, rosy texture. He wondered if the kid would still use that arm as a shield without realizing it during a fight. He decided that he wanted to know and abruptly jumped to his feet.

"Alright, kid. Let's battle a little!"

The two went outside. It was still early in the afternoon and the sun was shining high in the sky. It was a beautiful, pleasantly warm day and Nero found himself sighing in contentment. He had secretly craved for some fresh air.

Both got into fighting positions and started with their training.

Nero activated the engine of his sword, filling Red Queen up with gasoline. He was overly excited about the roar it emitted. The adrenaline-abstinence of the last two weeks had definitely done him no good; he was glad to swing his sword again. The young devil hunter jumped in the air, pouncing at Dante, who mirrored his actions, and their swords clashed against each other. They fell back onto the ground; Dante elegantly, Nero wobbling a little. He frowned. What if the change from demon to human had affected his fighting skills, as well? He noticed that Red Queen _did_ indeed feel much heavier than it usually would.

He couldn't hear and smell the world around him the way he used to. Every color seemed to be less bright.

A wave of desperate realization came over him. _Why?_

Dante surprised the teen, who was lost in his thoughts. Nero barely managed to block the attack before Rebellion could deepen itself into his abdomen. A little taken aback, he countered with a forceful slash which Dante effortlessly dodged. The older devil hunter smirked, encircling Nero in a slow pace. Then he lunged at him again.

They had been fighting for half an hour when Nero realized that he had no strength left. He tried to hide it, of course, but his body was betraying him. He stood on shaky legs and his arms were strained under Red Queens weight – something he had experienced really, really rarely during his life.

He wiped the sweat off his face and was too distracted to see Dante's move coming. The teen tried to block his attack, but was disarmed and hurled back. Moaning softly, he sat upright only with difficulty since the biggest part of his body was hurting. He froze at the sight of Rebellion falling upon him and instinctively lifted his right arm to shield himself and grab the sword.

Rebellion never brushed him though. Dante was looking down at him with one hand clinging to his hip and the other still firmly enclosed around the sword's handle. He raised it to have the flat of it resting gently against his nape and cocked an eye brow.

"You've definitely fought better. Oh, and you do realize you would be dead by now, right? How about rolling to the side?"

Nero was confused for a moment. He unceremoniously dropped his arm onto his lap and stared at it... Of course he fucking knew! He knew perfectly that he had fought like shit! Still, he was surprised Dante hadn't figured out _why_.

"I fucking know that! It's not my fault if everything feels different since my goddamn arm literally fell off!"

"There may be some changes in the way you perceive things now, however, you didn't focus! Or better, you focused on the wrong thing: your despair. If you really wanna come along on missions again, you better learn to focus on fighting and stop pitying yourself! You lost your Devil Bringer, alright! That's how things are, right now, and we still haven't found a way to change them, so adapt yourself!"

Nero stood up, picked up Red Queen off the ground and started to walk back to the office. He definitely didn't have the nerves to listen to the older devil hunter right then; the man couldn't understand how he felt anyway. Of course he couldn't – it wasn't him who had lost his demonic side, after all; he didn't have a clue about how weak and pathetic he felt!

He reached his room and tossed his sword aside, then let himself fall onto the mattress, groaning in frustration.

He studied his right arm; a soft, pale human arm that wasn't covered in scales, that didn't glow when he was agitated. Was there any advantage to being human? He couldn't see any now.

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><p><em><strong>As always, feedback of any kind is welcome. ^^ Hopefully see you next time!<strong>_


	3. Chapter 2

_**Helloo~**_

_**It took a while, but I finally pulled myself together and continued rewriting this fanfiction. xD So there it is: chapter 2! I wanna thank everybody for your support, especially my beta reader Blood of Dusk. Thank you guys. =) *heart***_

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><p><strong>Chapter 2<strong>

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><p>A few hours later, Nero came downstairs to fetch something to eat and drink. He also hoped to meet the older devil hunter; that way he could apologize for just having run away. He knew Dante was right; there was indeed no point in whining about his current situation as it wasn't going to suddenly change back to how it used to be before. If he wanted something to change, he had to work on it. And accepting the fact that he wasn't a half demon anymore was probably the first step in the right direction…<p>

Nero spotted Dante sitting at his desk, feet resting on top of it and a magazine of some kind covering his face. He supposed he was sleeping since he often did it that way. The teen went quietly into the rather unused kitchen, checked the refrigerator for something to eat, but there was nothing but old, bad-looking pizza. He sighed and just grabbed a can of beer. He mused how many of those he'd have to drink to apologize to Dante without feeling like the biggest dumbass ever and decided to start right away, opening the can which emitted a soft hiss. After having gulped down the half of it without even really tasting it, he let his gaze wander over to the other devil hunter and hesitantly approached him.

He was bored out of his mind and with Dante asleep there wasn't very much he could do. The teen studied his posture and wondered how the hell a person could sleep in a chair – leaning back so that only two of the four legs were connected to the ground – without falling off it. And seriously, how could he sleep in that position altogether? Didn't he have back pains when he woke up? Nero took another sip of his beer, this time savoring the slightly bitter taste on his tongue, and his eyes fell onto the magazine covering the man's face. It had some hot chick leaning over a motorcycle on its cover. He slowly raised his free hand and reached out to pull it away. When Dante's face was revealed, the younger hunter recoiled with a startled grunt. Dante's piercing blue eyes met his and the man smirked.

"Are you done with the voyeurism?" he asked, jokingly, then added "You know, you don't have to wait 'til I'm asleep to admire my absolute gorgeousness."

Nero was taken aback for some seconds, his mouth ajar, ready to debate with smug words; though they, sadly, just wouldn't come to mind. So, he clenched his jaw, blushing, and dropped the magazine not too gently onto the desk.

"You dumbass! I wasn't staring, I was just wondering if you actually sleep in that back-killing position!"

"Yeah, yeah – I'll just _act_ as if I believe it." Dante mockingly said, waving it off with his hand, and stretched a little in his seat. Believe it or not, but his back _did _indeed crack. Nero brushed the tip of his nose with the back of his hand and avoided the other male's gaze by looking around the messy lobby. He finished the last bit of remaining beer in one go and crumpled the can in his hand.

"I came downstairs to tell you that I'm sorry for being an ass to you lately, but guess what – I changed my mind! It's just fine the way it is!"

The older devil hunter was a little surprised by Nero's hinted apology, but it made a warm feeling swell up in his chest. It was kinda cute, especially because Nero was rubbing his face like some kind of hysteric, little squirrel while trying to hide the rosy tint on his cheeks.

_Well, it would be cute if he was a girl. Since he's a guy... it's funny or something like that._

Dante smiled at him, accepting the subtle apology in the most gentle way he could muster. He knew it probably had taken Nero a lot of overcoming and he appreciated it.

"Sometimes I can be a little more sensitive, too." he admitted and then immediately changed topic. "You hungry? Because I sure as Hell am!"

Nero, still feeling a little awkward over their weird exchange of apologies, grimaced and shook his head.

"There's nothing, but old pizza in the fridge… And sorry, but I'm starting to feel sick at the _thought_ of pizza!"

"No problem" The older man stood up, picked Ebony and Ivory off the desk and holstered them. "Let's go out, eat something in a nice place. Whatcha say?"

"Really? You want to get out of this shit hole for something other than a mission?"

"If you're not ashamed to hang out with an old man, that is." Dante joked and winked.

Nero grinned, back to his usual cocky self.

"If you're not afraid of being arrested for hanging out with a 'kid' like me. Right, pedophile?"

"Hah! Afraid of the cops you say. They need to get me first."

The older devil hunter smiled lightly and walked pass Nero, petting his head in a passive manner. He opened the front door and theatrically turned around, gesturing for the other male to follow.

"Let's go!"

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><p>Nero was panting and groaning as he desperately looked for a bench to sit on. He whined, frustrated since he couldn't find any and clutched his stomach harder.<p>

"Daaamn~ I don't think I've ever eaten so much. Shit! I almost can't breathe."

Dante chuckled. He wanted to point out that the issue probably wasn't the food… but he decided against it. It was funny and made him happy in a wicked way he couldn't explain to see the teen carefree again, talking about his full belly instead of the metamorphosis his body had gone through in the last couple of weeks. Nero chuckled, as well, the great amount of red wine and booze they had drunk during and after dinner showing its effect on him. He stumbled slightly, but managed to keep his stance. He gave Dante a not-so-impressive glare for having sprung at his side, ready to support him in case he really had fallen.

"You know, I'm perfectly fine. I don't need your help."

Dante eyed him worriedly, but distanced himself from the younger devil hunter. Just a little, in case something like that happened again. He then continued to walk slowly and bit his bottom lip to restrain the laugh he had been holding back ever since the teen almost planted his ass in a bed of flowers.

"Hey, look! A bench! You wanna sit over there?" the older man suddenly exclaimed, pointing at said bench. The place was a little isolated, kind of like a little park, in the height though, with the view of the city in its nocturnal beauty.

Nero just nodded and dragged himself with some difficulty over to the bench. Dante followed him and took a seat beside him, wondering if maybe, only maybe, he shouldn't have let the kid drink so much.

_Naah, it's fine this way. Look how happy he is; it's doing miracles to his mind! Booze never fails to help a miserable soul out… even if he'll have a nasty hangover in the morning._

"… Dante?" the teen called for him, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Yeah?" the man turned to gaze directly at his younger fellow. Nero was staring at him like he was actually staring right _through_ him, a drunken blush covering his otherwise always so pale cheeks. He was swaying lightly, but also trembling a little.

"You cold?" Dante asked him. The teen didn't reply. The older devil hunter shrugged and just took his coat off, letting it fall around Nero's smaller frame.

"Nooo~ I'm not cold!" that answer was a little behind time. But he still didn't try to take the coat off, Dante noticed with a smirk. The kid was rather silly when drunk.

"Dante, you really think I'm going to have my Devil Bringer back someday?" he slurred unhappily and shifted a little in his seat to face the other male better.

"Yeah, I think so. Don't worry about that all the time. I promise we'll find a way to get your powers back, alright?"

Nero hummed softly in reply and lowered his head. He was looking all sad-faced down at his arm, which Dante noticed; so he nudged him with his elbow to draw Nero's attention back to himself.

"Are you feeling better? Wanna go home now?"

Nero anxiously shook his head, swaying dangerously and almost falling off the bench in the process.

"I think it's really nice up here!"

"Alright. We can stay for a little while longer, if you really want to."

Dante sighed softly and leaned back against the backrest of the bench, crossing his arms. At his right, Nero was slowly hunching over and breathing heavily through his mouth.

"Kid, you sure you're feeling alright?" the older man asked, this time sincerely worried. Nero groaned, annoyed and snatched Dante's bicep, yanking at it weakly. The older devil hunter frowned, trying to figure out what the hell the other male was trying to do and in the end just loosened his crossed arms to lend him one of them for whatever he needed it.

"I'm fucking fine; stop being a pain in the ass! I can't stand it when you act like I can't take care of myself! And stop being better than me in everything we do, it pisses me off! Can't you just pretend to lose once in a while? It depresses me, dammit! Why do you have to be like this? So frigging – so frigging… annoying..." His complaining tone became softer, quieter. He leaned into that muscular arm he was holding, burying his face in the fabric of Dante's three-quarter-sleeved shirt. "It's infuriating. Why do I care about you so much?"

Dante had visibly stiffened and was looking down at the boy clinging to his arm like he had turned into a poisonous, giant spider. This was Nero, he reminded himself. A very cocky and arrogant teenager with whom he had to fight his moodswings with every single day, from the first day he had moved into the Devil May Cry office. No, scratch that. Since the very first day he met him in that little, fucked-up town, Fortuna. Having another guy clinging and cuddling with his arm was rather awkward. He didn't feel comfortable about it and he knew, Nero wouldn't either, if he weren't out of his senses.

"What did you say?" he asked him anyway, just to make sure. He could feel the younger one's warm breath through his black shirt and the weak hands slowly slipping off his arm as Nero's cheek pressed harder against his shoulder.

"I like you. You're the only person besides Kyrie I really feel comfortable with." the boy's reply came out muffled, but he sounded cheerful and sincere. "And you're always here for me when something bad happens."

Nero giggled – yes, _giggled –_ and nuzzled Dante's arm with his face. The older man stirred a little, wanting to stand up and detach himself from the weird-acting teenager, but stayed there on the bench, nervously biting his bottom lip instead.

After a while, he noticed that the younger devil hunter wasn't moving anymore. He carefully lifted his arm to get a look at Nero's face and saw that the boy was slumbering peacefully. He let out a sigh of relief and decided to never mention to the boy what had happened this evening. Never. Dante pushed him off himself and stood up; then he picked him up and hoisted him over his shoulder.

"I'll kick your scrawny ass if you decide to puke while I'm carrying you around like this, kid." he mumbled, more to himself than to the unconscious male, and started to walk down, all the way back to his car.

* * *

><p>The next day, Nero woke up, groaning loudly. His head felt like somebody had used it as a football and his eyes were swollen and stung because of the sunlight coming in through his window.<p>

What the Hell…? What time is it?

He crawled out of bed like he was dying and managed to stand up after a few attacks of dizziness and nausea. He noticed that he was wearing a t-shirt and shorts; he couldn't remember changing his clothes though. Ah, well. He couldn't remember nearly anything at all, now that he thought about it. He tiredly walked into the bathroom and stripped down to nothing, then stepped into the shower. The warm water relaxed his muscles and nerves and calmed down his troubled mind. Had he really drunk that much yesterday? Had he done something embarrassing? He wasn't one to get wasted often… it's not like something like that was tolerated in Fortuna. And the few times he had were bad enough that he could have swore to himself not to do it again. Had Dante taken him back home and put him to bed? Wow, that was embarrassing. He tried to remember but had only pictures of himself and Dante sitting on a bench in some kind of park floating through his head. And then? … Oh. He blushed lightly. He remembered Dante pulling his coat off for him because he thought he was cold. What a cheesy thing to do! And wait, he remembered something else. How muscular Dante's arm had felt and how good he had smelled as he had buried his face in his sleeve. His scent had been… manly. Manly and intoxicating. And actually, it was weird that he had liked it so much… maybe he should just ask him if he could borrow his cologne or something…

_So, uhm… let's turn off the cold stream, riiight. _

The cold water met his burning body and he flinched, displeased. How could he talk and act normally around the older man after what he had said and done the previous night? Fuck the red wine! Fuck the booze! Fuck going out with Dante! Fuck it!

Some hours later, the teen was sitting on the couch, sipping at a warm tea to soothe his upset stomach, and waiting for Dante to come home. He obviously had gone out for another mission and Nero was a little… disappointed that he still couldn't join him. Well, after yesterday evening, it was better this way, maybe…

Suddenly, the door opened and the older devil hunter stepped inside the shop, looking rather worn out if the slightly tousled hair and circles under his eyes weren't reference enough. He routinely leaned Rebellion against the wall and dropped Ebony and Ivory onto the desk. Then he let himself fall into his chair.  
>Nero blushed, thinking about the night before, but decided to behave like nothing had happened. He slowly stood up and plodded around the room, avoiding some pizza boxes, some cans of beer, bottles of booze, magazines and other shit lying around on the floor. Damn, they really needed to clean up once in a while. He reached Dante's desk and his gaze lowered. He stared into his cup of tea and mused that he actually did not even like tea. But whatever. It looked interesting though. Brown-greenish. What was this flavor again?<p>

"Hey kid," the older man greeted him nicely. "You feeling better?"

Screw the tea and its stupid flavor. He felt heat crawl onto his cheeks and hoped he didn't look as dumb as he felt. He nodded, without looking up, and took another sip of the warm beverage – just for the sake of doing something.

"Had a hard mission?" he asked nonchalantly, but forgot that fiddling around with the hem of his shirt probably didn't look too cool. When Dante didn't reply, Nero finally dared to look up. With big, shiny eyes, he met his gaze and immediately averted his own again, scratching his nose.

"I wasn't on a mission." the man softly admitted after a while. "I've been looking for an explanation to your case, but nobody has ever heard about a half demon losing his devilish side. So I went to the library, but I just found something about a weird spell to make demons become tame like pets. The cursed demon seems to lose its power too, but it kind of doesn't sound like something that, well, could have happened to you."

Nero blinked a few times, trying to imagine Dante in a library, looking through books… and that alone was a reason to laugh his ass off. It also explained why he looked so drained… And the thing with the pet-demons… he couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"'To make demons become tame like pets?' Seriously? Who the Hell would want a demon as a pet? What a stupid spell."

Dante smirked slyly and leaned comfortably back against the backrest of his chair. He let his fingers glide along his stubbly chin and studied Nero with pensive, blue eyes.

"_I _wouldn't mind. And you know, it's not _that _impossible if I think about it with you in front of me. First the demon begins to weaken and then to lose its powers. Fangs and claws begin to crumble and the only thing left are cute unsharp teeth and cute soft paws. Just like a small little puppy you can cuddle with all day long. Sounds familiar to me, what about you?"

The boy's grin faltered. Had Dante just compared him to a _dog_, of all things? Or was he misunderstanding something? Yes. He was misunderstanding something. Because there was no way something as stupid as that could be happening to him. Even if it sounded kind of reasonable.

"And you know what happens after the 'physical' metamorphosis?"

Nero swallowed another gulp of his tea and tried to look like he didn't really care. He glanced at Dante's jerk-face and waited for the revelation he was sure he wasn't going to like. The older devil hunter chuckled evilly and moved his arms behind his head, using them as a pillow.

"The 'pet' demon begins to have strong submission feelings towards its master. It begins to crave for praise, for any attention at all. It is ready to do everything to please its master. And in the end, it becomes pretty much the perfect little pet every child wishes for their birthday!"

The teen roughly dropped the cup of tea onto the desk, splashing the warm liquid everywhere. He glared at Dante.

"Doesn't sound like my case at all, you idiot!"

"Yeah, with that attitude, I doubt it too. Or do you yearn for praise and attention from my side?"

Dante winked mockingly and grabbed a magazine which was lying on the table, starting to go through it without really reading it.

"Shut up! Even if it was true, why the Hell would I choose _you _as my 'master'?"

"Because _I'd make you _choose me. Believe me, kid."

Nero was shocked. His eyes widened, his mouth open in disbelief. At that sight the older devil hunter couldn't help but crack up with laughter, pointing a finger at him and slamming his hand on the desk. How old was this guy again? Something around thirty? No way man. No way.

"Yeah, whatever you say, old man… _Ha ha ha_."

He turned around and went upstairs. What a nice conversation. The events of the night before were already forgotten; who the Hell cared if he had gotten a little sentimental and clingy? Look at this sick "pet-curse"- theory; this was something he could worry about. He didn't want to admit it, but the stuff Dante had told him did indeed sound pretty much like what was happening to him. Well, at least the first part of it. But seriously! Who the hell would practice such a spell on him! And why? It didn't make any sense at all. Nero reached his room and let himself fall onto the soft mattress which had become so acquainted to him. He wrapped the thick blanket around his body and massaged his temples and eyelids. And what if it was true? What if he… no. Just no.

_Dante… I would never allow myself to submit to you!_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Thanks for reading! Tell me what you think, feedback is very appreciated. =) Hope it won't take me that long again to rewrite the next part. See ya!<strong>  
><em>


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